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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

At the start of the new year, I listed my personal & financial goals HERE. I have printed and posted these in my closet so I look at them EVERY DAY! It helps to keep me motivated and on track. The summer has actually been pretty busy for me. I've completed several home projects, we went on our 5 year anniversary vacation, so I haven't posted my results over the summer. Here are my June, July and August results:

Personal: (a lot of these are continuous)

* Lose 30 lbs - I have lost 25 pounds and several inches (not sure how many) since 1/1/12. I know I've lost more than 30 pounds of fat, but I've been doing some weight training as well. Everything is getting more toned.

* Load dishes in dishwasher as we dirty them - Still going well for us. I do the dishes every day (ugh!)

* Research home flipping and put together business model - Hubby and I have put together a business plan, mission statement, talked to real estate agents, crunched numbers, and starting in September, we are going to start socking away money for the business.

* Earn extra $600-$1,000 by any means possible - $37 from taking items to the Recycling Center. The only other extra we made this summer was from Brian teaching summer school. We earned a substantial amount, but I'm not going to include that in my total. But it was nice to have some extra money this summer. Grand total earned since January 1st: $618.75. I'm hopeful we will meet our $600-$1,000 goal for the year.

Financial:

* Save & Pay Cash for Spring Break Trip

* Pay off undergraduate school loans

* 3 months of expenses saved in Emergency Fund

* Start IRA, Contribute monthly - ongoing

* Start investing ($150/month) - We are going to cut this so we can concentrate on saving for the other things...like a family :)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

I've seen the pantry makeovers on Pinterest and thought I might give it a whirl. I've been wanting to redo my pantry for a while now. After I posted my results, lots of people have asked me "how." So here we go...

I saw this blog post and decided to give it a go. I did lots of research and planning - do I buy a stencil or buy vinyl decals?, what kind of paint do I use - regular paint or stencil creme?, what color?, etc. You can do this project however you want, this is how I chose to do mine:

Before I started stenciling, I wanted to add a 5th shelf to put some kitchen items up and away that I don't use every day. And also to spread everything out. I used a 1x2 screwed into the studs for support, then liquid glued and nailed some white melamine on top. Then I caulked over the screws, painted over the wood in white, then got started on the stenciling.

I found and printed this printable Quatrefoil pattern, purchased a plastic binder from the Dollar Tree, cut the two sides off and taped them together and outlined the stencil on the binder. Then I bought a Hot Exacto Knife from Amazon to cut out the pattern. I tell you - using this knife was so easy. It just melted the plastic, and I had the stencil cut in no time.

I debated whether to use stencil creme, which is a lot drier and easier to use then regular paint. I couldn't find a color I wanted, so I purchased a grey paint sample can at Ace Hardware. I tried stenciling on a piece of cardboard with a sponge brush, and it bled all over the place. So I did more research, tried it out and liked this method: Dabbing back and forth (horizontally) over the stencil with a stencil brush. So your brush should be perpendicular to your wall...just dabbing, or blotting away. This worked extremely well, and there was little to no bleeding. Any mistakes I made were corrected with the smaller stencil brush in my wall color, white.As far as attaching the stencil to the wall, I decided not use spray adhesive, just because that was one extra step that I was too lazy to do. I used painters tape on the edges of the stencil and attached it to the wall. As I painted each opening, I used my non-dominant hand fingers to hold that specific section against the wall, just so I know the paint wouldn't bleed. I went over the stencil twice because one coat of paint wasn't enough.

The stenciling did take some time, but I did a little bit each day and within a week I had my pantry finished. I did not paint the sides or the top and bottom, mainly because you can't see the sides, and the top and bottom are covered up with stuff.

After I painted, I hit up Goodwill on their 50% off day and bought some baskets and yellow accent stuff. I organized and organized and finally finished my project. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Right now, Famous Footwear is running an awesome back-to-school promotion: Buy One, Get One 50% off sale — both in store and online. AND - get an additional 15% off with THIS COUPON. Print the coupon and redeem in-store or online between 8/2-8/18. Every little bit of savings helps, especially with all the expenses of back to school shopping. I have had a fabulous online buying experience, so that definitely saves me some time, hassle (and sweat), making back-to-school shopping so much easier.

Famous Footwear always has the shoe that we're looking for, whether in store or online. Since we both are on our feet and very active, we tend to lean towards the Asics brand, and we are never disappointed. Every time we buy online it's such an easy process, and we get our shipment quickly. Check out our deal we got last November HERE. We saved over $100!

If you haven’t already joined, Famous Footwear offers a free rewards program. It’s super easy to use and keep track of. Brian and I frequent Famous Footwear, so we definitely take advantage of their free rewards program. Here are some of the benefits:

* Earn 1 point for every $1 you spend in-store or online

* Accumulate points to earn certificates up to $100 a year

* Discount offer just for signing up

* Other special inside discounts and perks

Brian and I love to take advantage of deals like the one mentioned above. We both go through tennis shoes quickly, so whenever there is a good deal, we like to stock up.

Friday, June 1, 2012

At the start of the new year, I listed my personal & financial goals HERE. I have printed and posted these in my closet so I look at them EVERY DAY! It helps to keep me motivated and on track. At the end of every month, I will be posting an update. Here are my May results:

Personal: (a lot of these are continuous)

* Lose 30 lbs - I have lost 20 pounds and several inches (not sure how many) since 1/1/12.

* Load dishes in dishwasher as we dirty them - Still going well for us. I've been doing the dishes at least 4 times a week, but it definitely helps to already have the dishes loaded.

* Research home flipping and put together business model - I've been doing a lot of thinking, strategizing and talking with my family, but I have not put anything on paper this month.

* Earn extra $600-$1,000 by any means possible - $20 in May. We did sell my old car, but I don't think I'm going to include that in my total. Grand total earned since January 1st: $581.75. I'm hopeful we will meet our $600-$1,000 goal for the year.

Financial:

* Save & Pay Cash for Spring Break Trip

* Pay off undergraduate school loans

* 3 months of expenses saved in Emergency Fund

* Start IRA, Contribute monthly - ongoing

* Start investing ($150/month) - We are going to cut this so we can concentrate on saving for the other things...like a family :)

* Save & Pay Cash for Summer Vacation

* Save & Pay Cash for New Car - We bought a new car. (I know!) Here are our reasons (or rationalizations) 1) My car is 10 yrs old and the engine starts whenever it feels like it, 2) I went to get my oil changed, and the guy came back with all these things that needed to get fixed, 3) The used car price was just as much as the new car deals, 4) Financing - it would have cost us more to fix my old car than how much we will pay in financing. We went ahead and bought a new car that is reliable and something we can use for our future family. We plan to keep this car for another 10 years, so it better last!

* Walk Dusty Bottoms (our dog) more - I have been testing out my new Vibrams while walking Dusty.

**NEW** Pay cash for Brian's Master's Degree - We have budgeted to pay for each class in full over the next 18 months. Brian starts his master's program in June, and we have already made the first payment. I am so grateful that we will not have to pay interest on Brian's higher education.